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I am a Maryland guy and the 'newish' owner of a '55 Holiday 4 door. I found it on ebay last fall and to date it has been the coolest thing I've ever bought! It has about 65k original miles, and the car spent most of its life sitting in an enclosed barn in PA. I actually have met the grandson of the original owner, which was an elderly lady from Reading. He told me how he went for a ride in it after his grandmother drove it home from the dealer in the fall of '55 and picked him up from elementary school.
When I first saw it listed, I was very skeptical that it was an original, unrestored survivor with no rust. My background is in paint and bodywork, and sure enough it is as solid as it was when new, minus some surface pitting around the base of the rear window which I understand is common. With the nice weather we have had I've been driving it a lot locally. So far, all I have done is replace the gas tank and sending unit due to corrosion, sandblast and paint the wheels with a set of new American Classic whitewalls, and gave it a good tune up.
The car is originally Frost Blue and Panama Blue, and the Frost Blue top coat is original with the worn lacquer look to it. It almost looks white until up close due to its age, but looks really cool IMO. The Panama Blue was resprayed back in the 70's I'm told, and was done in a lighter metallic blue than the correct Panama Blue. The current scheme is nice though; though only half technically correct. I sprayed the wheels to match the original Panama Blue wheel color (had to be custom mixed, I couldn't get a code to transfer to my paint system), just in case I ever do repaint it and want to match the original colors.
When I first got it, my speedometer was acting up on cold mornings. The needle would jump everywhere and you could hear a slight binding driving down the road. Based on the overall condition of the cable, I opted to replace it with a new one from Fusicks, Prior to installing, I lubed the core really well with graphite, and it worked great for a few weeks. Again as the weather got colder, it is going goofy again, and I therefore unhooked it from the back of the dash to prevent any damage. Currently when I drive it the cable and core are there, with the core spinning, it just isn't hooked to the cluster. With that said, should I try lubing the core some more, or could there be an issue in the actual cluster with the speedo gear? I wanted to get some opinions before electing to take the dash apart.
Thank you all for any advice! And Im happy to be a part of the community here.
Welcome to the group... Sharp looking 55... Although I have no experience with a 55 speedometer, there are several other 55 owners here on the site who may have an incite as to what your problem may be...
Welcome aboard from another 55 owner. As far as speedometer cables go I've never used graphite but white lithium grease as done well for me in the past.I hear some use silicone grease now made especially for speedometer cables but I've never used it maybe some others will chime in on their proven products.... Lets see a few more pictures of that survivor.... Lost in the fifties ...Tedd
Last edited by Tedd Thompson; November 8th, 2017 at 03:32 PM.
The speedometer on my '56 broke sometime around 1985 because the odometer reading was the same through several transactions until I bought it in 2012.
I replaced the cable in 2013 and experienced the same things you describe- speedometer jumping and a binding noise. Sooo, I disconnected the cable at the speedometer and, against all advise, I gave the speedometer connection a very quick shot of silicone lube. One very quick burst.
That fixed the problem right away and four years later, it still works perfectly.
Last edited by ignachuck; November 8th, 2017 at 03:19 PM.
Reason: spelling
Welcome to the site, beautiful car. Hows the interior?
Thanks! The interior is vintage, undisturbed 1955. I’ll upload some pics, but the upper dash is a medium blue with ivory lower, white and blue vinyl seats, and the headliner still looks brand new. My car has like a vinyl floor, not carpet, so I may replace that eventually as it’s cracking from its age. I’m hesitant to do too much to it as I feel like it still smells like the materials from back then; carcinogens and all!
The speedometer on my '56 broke sometime around 1985 because the odometer reading was the same through several transactions until I bought it in 2012.
I replaced the cable in 2013 and experienced the same things you describe- speedometer jumping and a binding noise. Sooo, I disconnected the cable at the speedometer and, against all advise, I gave the speedometer connection a very quick shot of silicone lube. One very quick burst.
That fixed the problem right away and four years later, it still works perfectly.
We had this problem many times while we were in the used car business and always just took the cable out and greased them by using plain axel grease. Welcome to the site ,your car looks very nice. Another '55 Lover, Larry
Welcome aboard from another 55 owner. As far as speedometer cables go I've never used graphite but white lithium grease as done well for me in the past.I hear some use silicone grease now made especially for speedometer cables but I've never used it maybe some others will chime in on their proven products.... Lets see a few more pictures of that survivor.... Lost in the fifties ...Tedd
Had a local sign shop make the ‘Ike in ‘56’ magnet to cover up a spot of flaking paint. Modeled after political pin from that year. Seats had covers and you can see the difference in the fade. I haven’t had them professionally cleaned yet but I maybe they will clean up nice. Original headliner Pretty cool factory mirror with OLDSMOBILE written across top. Wearing thin Frost Blue lacquer. Based on the VIN, was built in Wilmington in July 1955. Engine was gone through in the 80’s. My to do list is to install the yellow letters on valve covers and touch up manifold where paint is burned off. I don’t think the rebuilder used engine specific enamel when it was done.
If you do the valve cover lettering yourself a product called One Shot Lettering Enamel color # 130L is a dead match to the original lettering and can be found in most automotive stores that sell Paint.
The green on the manifold will in time always burn off the heat riser but is not to hard to touch up. Most enamels that have a gloss will not take more than 600 degrees before blistering. There are exceptions but those products are very expensive and colors selections are limited.... Nice ride seldom does a 60 year car interior hold up as good as yours...... Tedd
Great car. Got mine on eBay too. I need to fix the transmission seal on the rear of the hydramatic, ground the fuel sending unit, adjust the brakes, put seatbelts in and im all set. You in PA now? Im in Churchville PA. Hope to see you on the road! Drop me a line anytime. Rocketowner is a great resource and a great guy.
Welcome Mike. Dayum nice 55's !!!!!!! My Dad's first Oldsmobile was a 55 4 door in two tone green. I owned a 55 black 2 door sedan for a while, wish I had it now.
RALPH
Great car. Got mine on eBay too. I need to fix the transmission seal on the rear of the hydramatic, ground the fuel sending unit, adjust the brakes, put seatbelts in and im all set. You in PA now? Im in Churchville PA. Hope to see you on the road! Drop me a line anytime. Rocketowner is a great resource and a great guy.
Beautiful! Really nice color combo. I am outside Baltimore but we could easily cross paths. I’ve learned that as much as I look for any classic Olds out there at shows and cruise ins they are definitely on the rarer side. I think that’s cool though.
Been a while. Did you ever get the speedometer working?
We're always interested in knowing if we added any value.
I am very happy to say that it appears to be currently fixed! Confirmed this morning on a ride around my area. I took the core out and lubed it really well with grease. Then I did the quick shot into the cluster with the cable removed. My first time I didn’t fix it, but I tried again this week and found that to really get into the cluster you have to have one of the red straws on the nozzle and feed it in there a little bit.
I put it back together and drove it and at first the speedo needle went absolutely crazy but then it seemed to free up in there and is smooth as a whistle now. I also noticed at cruising speed 50-60 mph the needle is more stable now. It used to waver a few mph before the shot of lube.
Thank you you so much for the tips everyone. Once I get my clock working in the dash everything will be in top notch shape. I see there are topics on here on that, and I recently bought a NOS never installed clock if I can’t get my original one working.
I know lifters and lifter noise in these things are discussed in detail on here and I plan to read up on them a little before I ask my next question regarding my sometimes chatty Rocket V8
November 8th, 2017, 01:05 PM
